Kyrat

Kyrat also (किरात) or (ཀྱ་རཏ) is a fictional Himalayan country, located presumably in Nepal in the Himalayas (bordering Bihar, India as stated by the nearest embassy being in Patna), that is featured as the setting in Far Cry 4. The Kingdom of Kyrat is a monarchy, which in the game is ruled by the despotic self-appointed King Pagan Min.

Contents

History

Ancient times and origins

It is believed in Kyrati mythology that Banashur created the world and his daughter, Kyra, created Kyrat. In 500 BC, Chal Jama Monastery was built by followers of Kyra, which also become the place where the teachings of Kyra were first recorded.

Shanath arena was built in the 1750s by King Avinash to get citizens minds off issues. At this time, the arena featured elephants fighting tigers to the death.

English Kyrat

The English moved into Kyrat in the 1820s and made it into a colony, which later became a staging area for the English invasion of India. In the following years, Kyrat's economy was wholly dependent on the mining and exportation of gold, which was carried out by the company KEO. After the English left, the mining boom peaked in the 1950s and was swiftly followed by KEO's collapse, after which Kyrat's economy went to failure.

King Min's Kyrat

Kyrat was racked by conflict; a civil war raged between the supporters and opponents of the aging monarch: the Royalists and the Nationalists. The Royalist forces, after a few months of bloody fighting, stormed the palace and attempted to crown the young heir to the throne. Pagan Min, a Golden Triangle drug lord with a massive bounty on his head who had set his eyes on Kyrat and had joined the Royalist army in order to forge a name for himself, decided to turn against his comrades and killed the heir and took the Kyrati throne for himself, brutally purging the Royalist leadership of his opponents. Min's betrayal led to the formation by Mohan Ghale of the resistance movement known as the Golden Path (which he named based on a dream Ishwari had), who were committed to his downfall.

Months after Pagan Min's takeover of the nation, the new king's mercenaries succeeded in killing many Royalists even aware of the danger. Mohan Ghale and some Royalists survived the disaster and went into hiding. Over the subsequent weeks, Min solidified his control of the country and people flocked to join his new military, enticed by his promises of high pay and a new future for Kyrat.

As the war stretched into 1988, the better equipped and organized Royal Army rapidly advanced across the country and enforced Min's totalitarian regime. Min employed Yuma Lau to track down and eliminate those mercenaries who sided with the Golden Path, and by all accounts she was highly successful. Kyrati businesses were converted to service the opium and heroin trade to fund the army and the lavish lifestyle of Min and his inner circle. The country's borders were closed to all foreigners and international trade prohibited. Temples and other religious sites were banned from the public and their artifacts locked inside Jalendu Temple. Kyrat's historic bell towers were made into makeshift propaganda towers to broadcast regime propaganda. Min even had his likeness printed on the Kyrati rupee.

The situation was increasingly desperate for the overwhelmed Golden Path. Later in 1988, the CIA made contact with Ghale, offering to deliver weapons and provide "military advisors". Ghale accepted the weapons, which put the Golden Path on a more even footing with the Royal Army, but declined the "advisors", believing that the war should be won by Kyratis, not Americans. Even with the new weapons, however, the Golden Path was steadily pushed back. At some point, they were expelled from northern Kyrat.

As the Golden Path continued losing ground, tensions came to a head between Mohan Ghale and Ishwari, who was frustrated that Mohan refused to let her become more involved in the war effort. Mohan ordered Ishwari to infiltrate the Royal Palace as a spy and gain Min's confidence, hoping that this task would keep her out of his way and show her how brutal Min's regime was. Ishwari brought her newborn son, Ajay, with her. Over the next two years she proved to be an effective spy and became Min's lover. Her effect on Min was pronounced, as his love for her distracted him from running his regime; Yuma Lau began to think he had "gone soft". In 1990, Mohan learned that Ishwari had a daughter by her relationship with Min named Lakshmana. Furious, Mohan killed Lakshmana, and Ishwari killed Mohan in turn, then departed Kyrat and emigrated to America with Ajay. Pagan Min fell into depression and retreated into the Royal Palace, becoming a recluse, while the Golden Path floundered without its leader.

Modern Day

Kyrat in the modern day is widely regarded as a failed state. It has no diplomatic relationship with the United States, representation in the United Nations, or trade relations with other countries beyond its considerable illicit drug exports.

Since 1990, Pagan Min has left the day-to-day affairs of running the country to his inner circle. Yuma Lau governs the Royal Guard and runs Durgesh Prison, Kyrat's gold mines, and various re-education camps for captured Golden Path militants and helpers. Paul "De Pleur" Harmon smuggles guns, produces opium and other illegal crops, and is General of the Royal Army. Noore Najjar refines De Pleur's opium into heroin, manages its exportation to Western countries via Kyrat Intl. Airport, and supervises Kyrat's human trafficking operation.

The struggling Golden Path continues to resist Min's regime, but recently its two leaders, the traditional Sabal and the progressive Amita, have become increasingly divided over which direction the resistance should take.

In 2014, both the Golden Path and Pagan Min learn that Ajay Ghale is returning to Kyrat to put his mother Ishwari's ashes to rest. Golden Path senior member Darpan is sent to guide Ajay across the Kyrat-India border to the Golden Path, but Pagan Min intercepts Ajay and Darpan at the border checkpoint, beginning the events of Far Cry 4.

Future

It is unknown whether after Pagan Min's death or escape Kyrat continues to be a monarchy. It is likely that it becomes a totalitarian terror state by the Golden Path military ran by Amita or Sabal (depending on the player's choice).

Military

The Kyrati military is divided into Royal Army and Royal Guard, which respectively operating in Southern and Northern Kyrat. The Royal Army, which consists of native Kyratis who are loyal to Pagan Min, is led by Paul "De Pleur" Harmon, General of the Royal Army. Whilst, the Royal Guard, which is stronger, better equipped, and consists of foreign mercenaries, is governed by Yuma Lau.

Politics

Kyrat is an absolute monarchy with Pagan Min as the king. It is divided into four administrative regions with each of them led by governors. To the south and south east by Paul Harmon, west by Noore, north by Yuma Lau, and northeast by Pagan Min himself.

However, while given the title "governors", they are more of managers for Pagan Min's many black market businesses and activities on Kyrat, even as well as utilizing citizens as slave workers for them.

Foreign Relations

As a result of Pagan Min's influence, he successfully convinced the western world that he is a benevolent ruler whose regime was disturbed by the terrorist group Golden Path. Furthermore, he also made Kyrat isolated, making the country and its current state unknown from outside. As claimed by Rabi Ray Rana, even with the full blown war going on in Kyrat, no western media reported what happened there, despite gaining great attention on the social media.

Furthermore, it has little to none political relationship with other countries, and is not the member of United Nations. As mentioned on Far Cry 4 introduction, not even United States has relationship with the country. However, the country has been monitored by CIA since the start of civil war between royalists and nationalists, allegedly supplying nationalists with weapons, and also Golden Path after Pagan Min's takeover. The monitoring goes on up to 2014, when the current regime was deemed to posess no threat to the United States.

Geography

Kyrat

Kyrat's exact location is never specified. All that is known is that it lies somewhere to the north of Patna, India most likely Nepal, which has the closest public airport to Kyrat.[1] Kyrat is bordered by at least three other countries: to the south by the Papir Republic, to the west by Kumsa, and to the east by Yinke.[2]

Kyrat itself is separated into two distinct regions: the Kyratese Pacchim Valley in the southwest, and the Kyratese Uttar Region in the northeast.[2] The Pacchim Valley features the villages of Banapur, Tirtha, and "The City of Pain"), as well as Kyrat International Airport, Kyrat's only airport, which was under Royal Army control.

The Kyratese Uttar Region is separated from the Pacchim Valley by a vast canyon. The only way to cross is by way of the heavily guarded and fortified King's Bridge. The Uttar Region features the village of Utkarsh, the sacred Jalendu Temple, the Royal Fortress, and the Royal Palace, where Pagan Min resides.

Kyrats Northern region is far colder than the south, most likely due to it being at a much higher altitude. De Pleur's Compound and its surrounding is a large inaccessible part of the map, which includes the same climate and flora as the rest of the map.

Trivia

The name Kyrat actually seems to have been derived from the real name Kirat. The Kirāta (Sanskrit: किरात) is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who lived in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas of Nepal. Kirata Kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to any kingdom of the Kirata people, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas (mostly eastern Himalaya). Presently, the Kirat (or Kirati, Kiranti or Kirant) people are indigenous ethnic groups of the Himalayas (mid-hills) extending eastward from Nepal into India, Bangladesh, Burma, and beyond.

In the trailer, the people of Kyrat are shown to be speaking Hindi, a common language of the Indian subcontinent (Northern India and parts of Nepal), even though it would be more correct for them to be speaking Nepali (the national language of Nepal) or one of the other main Languages of Nepal which are distinct from Hindi. It should be noted, however, this may be because many Nepalese speak languages related to Hindi. As Kyrat was a former part of English India, it is possible that Kyrat may have taken place in India.

Gallery

Pre-order image for the Kyrat edition. In this image the map is much different than what it is in the retail version of Far Cry 4, being much larger and appearing that the mountains and snow areas were more accessible at any time, instead of just being restricted to a few missions.